Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee’s upcoming film Aamar Boss has sparked anticipation and excitement among fans, as they eagerly wait for the release of the film in theatres on May 9. One of the highlights of Aamar Boss is the presence of Rakhee, who returns to films after 22 years. Having enjoyed a dazzlingly successful career of charming performances across genres, Rakhee plays a caring mother to her devoted son (played by Shiboprosad) in the mother-son relationship film. Recently, Rakhee and Shiboprosad got together for a t2 chat at Taj Bengal.

Excerpts.

Shiboprosad: Through this conversation, I would like you to share some rare anecdotes from the past. You had once shared a story of Dilip Kumar rustling up an omelette on the road during the shoot of Shakti.

Rakhee: No, not an omelette. Dilip Saab would arrive on the set and ask for the pages of his dialogue. He carried an ink pen and would take the sheaf of papers and go sit underneath a tree.

One day, I saw him slapping himself. He was reprimanding himself. “You don’t remember your lines,” he was telling himself. One day, as we were travelling to a location for the shoot, he told us to stop and follow him. Everyone from the unit followed him to a shop by the roadside. “How are you, Bhaiya?” he asked the shopkeeper. Once the shopkeeper realised who he was speaking to, he was flabbergasted. I cannot conjure up that expression here. “Do you have a saucepan?” Dilip Saab asked him. “Yes,” he said. “Do you have a brick?” The shopkeeper said that he can get it for him. “Give me a saucepan, water and a brick,” Dilip Saab told him.

Then we understood the whole story. Dilip Saab had already packed 20 kgs of biryani in the cars for everyone from the unit. But that biryani did not have eggs in it. So he decided to rustle up boiled eggs by the roadside.

I remember another incident where the director Ramesh Sippy wasn’t satisfied with one of the scenes for a romantic song... Dilip Saab was supposed to turn in a certain way... and he made Dilip Saab give retakes of that shot 27 times to get it right. “You are looking like Dilip Kumar and not the character,” said Sippy.

Shiboprosad: You had fallen off a horse once...

Rakhee: Since I did not want a ‘duplicate’ to do that scene. I wanted to do it on my own. I was a perfectionist. You see this mark on my forehead? I got it during the shoot of a Dulal Guha film. I believe that to gain something, you have to give. Gains often come with sacrifices.

Shiboprosad: You had worked with Amitabh Bachchan in quite a few films. How did you develop that chemistry? Tell us about the jacket episode!

Rakhee: This was years before Amitabh Bachchan became the Amitabh Bachchan. I was shooting for a film directed by Lekh Tandon and Amitabh had come to the shoot with his friends. We had planned to go to Agra. Amitabh said that he would also come along with us. We all got into the Ambassadors. It was winter and suddenly we were hit with a foul smell. We all tried to figure out the source of that smell and finally realised it was coming from his jacket. He told us that someone had got the jacket for him from Kabul. We doused the jacket with all the perfumes we could get our hands on.

Shiboprosad: He would call you Bourani.

Rakhee: Yes, that is because of Jaya (Bachchan)... Jaya would call me Bourani. I never thought of him as my hero... and because of that our chemistry developed.

Shiboprosad: When I first met you to narrate the story of Aamar Boss, you had told me then that you had seen our films and your favourite film is Haami.

Rakhee: Yes, because the story was beautiful. Many years ago, the film Lalu Bhulu was made for children. But then people stopped making children’s films. I really liked the subject of Haami... and I feel you should make the film in Hindi.

Shiboprosad: You had told me then that if we offer you a script which has a hearttouching, sweet subject and you like it, then you’ll act in our film. You had told me that it had to be a bound script and that I had to go to Bombay and narrate it to you there.

Rakhee: Shibu has this brightness in his eyes! They speak volumes. I had seen Shibu act in Haami and then I came up with the suggestion that he play the role of my son in Aamar Boss. The lullaby we shot for rings so true in the film.

Shiboprosad: How was your experience working with Nandita Roy?

Rakhee: She has that hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth... and that’s how we would understand that the scene had come out well.

Shiboprosad: In the film, you are our boss! Incidentally, (actor) Amjad Khan would call you: ‘Teen foot ka Dada.’

Rakhee: Amjad was a very learned man, a thorough gentleman... but after Sholay, his image went through a complete transformation. Kids were scared of him. I had done many films with him. Things got to such a stage that he faced problems while trying to get his daughter admitted to a school. He then came to me and told me the situation and then I had a word with the principal, who had harboured this wrong notion about him, which was built around his public image post Sholay. “I told her that he (Amjad) was a thorough gentleman.”

Shiboprosad: Who is your closest friend in the film industry? We hear that it is Salim Khan.

Rakhee: Gulzar, Salim and Javed (Akhtar) wrote scripts for the productions of GP Sippy. I have known Salim since then. I have seen Salman Khan and his brothers since they were kids. Talking about the Salim-Javed screenplays, Javed would write all the witty lines. And as an actor, I would always focus on the scripts.

Shiboprosad: Give us the names of a few eateries in Calcutta which you would like to visit.

Rakhee: Radhu Babu’s shop, Chung Wah, Waldorf... we would enjoy the cutlet from a coffee shop... I can’t remember the name. Also, the beguni and phuluri from a sweet shop in Dum Dum.

Shiboprosad: Aamar Boss has a connection with Sukumar Ray. When I had called you for your home address, you had recited a poem.

Rakhee: (Starts laughing).